THE PEARLING HARBOR OF AL-MUHARRAQ

The
project objective is to renovate and revitalize the city of Al Muharraq,
historically used to be known for its us famous pearl.The urban
area is served via parking nodes that are juxtaposed to public bus
transportation hubs which make the starting journey of visitors. Such journey
forms the experimental memory throughout the traditional city with its
historically rich visual contents comprising architectural element and urban
spaces. Such images get into a fading mood when experiencing the modern larger
urban life in the background. The urban design study covered the level of
intervention needed for the individual building/ places in order to restore the
traditional image of the place/ street.The design
approach synthesizes the progressive mental evaluation and reevaluation of the
urban environment with a bipolar constructive system: pedestrian vs. vehicular,
spiritual vs. Secular/commercial, and locals vs. visitors. At the same time,
urban open spaces- plazas were incorporated to provide places for communing and
celebration, placed in a pattern of 150m spacing. The pedestrians have the
opportunity to commute in a convenient and scenic experience through a sequence
of designed pedestrian walkways and plazas. The pedestrian network was
integrated with the bus transportation system for long journeys. Investing in
promoting the use of the terminals would result in value appreciation of the
surrounding properties. The
pedestrian journey was enriched with additional circulation spines starting
from the main route, which allow for several duration and cultural scenery
options to choose from. These 10 minutes long secondary routes connect the old
city of Al Muharraq with the sea side historical Pearl Harbor.